Don Stiffe joins Hernon family for concert series at an Taibhdhearc

The shows entitled Conamara sa Chathair or Connemara in the City will kick off this Thursday night and will include songs, music and sean-nós dancing, with video footage of Connemara serving as the backdrop.

Don Stiffe is one of Galway’s best loved folk singers and songwriters and has performed all over the world with many of the greats of Irish traditional music. He is no stranger to the local music scene but is particularly looking forward to this series of concerts with the Hernons.

Flute player and flute maker Marcus Hernon was born and raised in Roisín na Mainiach in Carna. He describes music as a vocation and says it is as essential to him as breathing. Marcus learned the music from his elders and he has passed on the tradition to his two sons, Prionsias and Breandán. Both are talented musicians and award winning sean-nós dancers.

Dublin-based Andrew Smyth will be projecting a visual landscape of images as part of the backdrop to this show. Andrew, a freelance cameraman from Ballyhaunis, lived and worked for many years in Galway, when he developed a love for Ireland's rich coastline, largely through capturing its natural wilderness on film.

As well as working with TG4 and RTÉ, he was the visual director for the St Patrick’s Festival Galway in 2010 and 2011, producing two outdoor projection series with a group of other artists.

For the rest of August there will be a lunchtime performance in an Taibhdhearc at 1.00pm every Monday, and there will be evening performances every Tuesday and Thursday evening, performances will be at 8.00pm. The series will be launched on this Thursday, August 8 at 7.30pm, with a performance afterwards. All are welcome.

Tickets for the shows are €12/10. For further information and bookings, contact An Taibhdhearc on 091-563600/562024 or visit www.antaibhdhearc.com.